No more Chernobyls

Time heals everything, doesn't it? It has been 30 years since the name Chernobyl became the infamous nuclear accident that devastated the lives of millions of people in Western Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine. Thirty years on, and the nightmare for thousands of people is still frightening.

The Chernobyl catastrophe released one hundred times more radiation than the atom bombs dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet many seem to just dismiss the accident as a part of history and forget what large doses of radiation actually do to human lives. Sadly, focussing solely on the disputed statistics of Chernobyl has dehumanised what happened. The effects of Chernobyl touched millions of people and thousand still endure very visible and painful effects.

We are telling the stories of just a few of those thousands, to bring to light the reality of nuclear energy. Independent scientists and economists know that nuclear energy is the most expensive electricity source available, counting the cost of building, running and decommissioning the power stations. But an economic analysis alone cannot calculate the costs due to the damage done to our genes, the very foundation of life.

There are many other costs to take into consideration - the insurance and the cost of potential accidents, the long-term disposal of waste when no reliable solution has yet been found. Nuclear power is not a solution for climate change. The massive subsidies needed to keep the nuclear industry alive are slowing and undermine the renewable energy revolution that is the real solution to climate change.

All the above are facts about nuclear energy, however, no scientist or economist can tell you a life story of misplacement, diseases, trauma and fear. . . Only the victims can.

The latest updates

More than 50 organisations and individuals from around the world have joined forces with Greenpeace and called for investments in safe, renewable energy in order to end the threat of nuclear power. That message is in the form of an ...

Today our thoughts are once more with the people of Japan; our condolences are with those who lost their loved ones and our admiration is with those who are valiantly rebuilding their lives and communities one year after the earthquake...

I will never forget the sleepless nights that began for me on March 11, 2011, endless hours organizing the Greenpeace response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
I was looking for any new information with better clues to what was...

My guide, when I went to visit Chernobyl on the 25th anniversary of the accident, was a Greenpeace campaigner from Germany named Tobias Muenchmeyer. Tobias is the deputy head of our political unit in Berlin and also happens to know a...